Morning, December 28 Go To Evening Reading
“The life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God.”
—Galatians 2:20
When the Lord in mercy passed by and saw us in our blood, he, first of all, said, “Live,”; and this he did first because life is one of the absolutely essential things in spiritual matters, and until it is bestowed, we are incapable of partaking in the things of the kingdom. Now the life that grace confers upon the saints at the moment of their quickening is none other than the life of Christ, which, like the sap from the stem, runs into us, the branches, and establishes a living connection between our souls and Jesus. Faith is the grace that perceives this union, having proceeded from it as its first fruit. It is the neck that joins the body of the Church to its all-glorious Head.
“Oh, Faith! thou bond of union with the Lord,
Is not this office thine? and thy fit name,
In the economy of gospel types,
And symbols apposite—the Church’s neck;
Identifying her will and work
With him ascended?”
Faith lays hold upon the Lord Jesus with a firm and determined grasp. She knows his excellence and worth, and no temptation can induce her to repose her trust elsewhere. Christ Jesus is so delighted with this heavenly grace that he never ceases to strengthen and sustain her with the loving embrace and all-sufficient support of his everlasting arms. Here, a living, sensible, and delightful union is established, which casts forth streams of love, confidence, sympathy, complacency, and joy, of which both the bride and bridegroom love to drink. When the soul can evidently perceive this oneness between itself and Christ, the pulse may be felt as beating for both, and the one blood as flowing through the veins of each. Then is the heart as near heaven as it can be on earth and is prepared to enjoy the most sublime and spiritual kind of fellowship.
Spurgeon, C. H. Morning and Evening: Daily Readings. London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1896. Print.
Go To Morning Reading Evening, December 28
“I came not to send peace on earth, but a sword.”
—Matthew 10:34
The Christian will be sure to make enemies. It will be one of his objects to make none, but if to do the right, and to believe the truth, should cause him to lose every earthly friend, he will count it but a slight loss since his great Friend in heaven will be yet more friendly and reveal himself to him more graciously than ever. O ye who have taken up his cross, know ye not what your Master said? “I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother and a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.” Christ is the great Peacemaker, but before peace, he brings war. Where the light cometh, the darkness must retire. Where truth is, the lie must flee; if it abideth, there must be a stern conflict, for the fact cannot and will not lower its standard, and the lie must be trodden underfoot. If you follow Christ, you shall have all the dogs of the world yelping at your heels. If you would live to stand the test of the last tribunal, depend upon it, the world will not speak well of you. He who has the friendship of the world is an enemy to God, but if you are true and faithful to the Highest, men will resent your unflinching fidelity since it is a testimony against their iniquities. Fearless of all consequences, you must do the right. You will need the courage of a lion unhesitatingly to pursue a course that shall turn your best friend into your fiercest foe, but for the love of Jesus, you must thus be courageous. For the truth’s sake, to hazard reputation and affection is such a deed that to do it constantly, you will need a degree of moral principle which only the Spirit of God can work in you, yet turn not your back like a coward, but play the man. Follow right manfully in your Master’s steps, for he has traversed this rough way before you. Better a brief warfare and eternal rest than false peace and everlasting torment.
Spurgeon, C. H. Morning and Evening: Daily Readings. London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1896. Print.
December 28: Unity
Jeremiah 52:1–34; Romans 14:13–15:7; Proverbs 29:1–27
Paul calls us to refrain from judging others (Rom 14:3). That’s easy enough to do when the people in our communities are the people we’d want to have over for dinner. What happens when those in our community don’t value (or disvalue) the things we value (or disvalue)?
“Now may the God of patient endurance and encouragement grant you to be in agreement with one another, by Christ Jesus, so that with one mind you may glorify with one mouth the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore accept one another, just as Christ also has accepted you, to the glory of God” (Rom 15:5–7).
In this letter portion, Paul asks the Roman believers to stretch themselves. For the Roman believers, the judgment might have centered on the issue of eating the meat of unclean animals or the observance of Jewish holidays. Paul asks them to withhold judgment of one another because only God has that right (Rom 14:10). He also asks them not to “be a cause for stumbling or a temptation” for people who genuinely struggle with things from which others feel free.
It’s easy to agree when we’re in a community with people of similar personalities, hobbies, and backgrounds. But when we need to agree with someone who disagrees with how we work out our faith, we feel inconvenienced. Here, Paul states that we not only need to be mindful; we need to be accepting. We can do so for one reason: “Christ also has accepted you” (Rom 15:7). We were reconciled to God while we were still His enemies (Rom 5:10). The great Peacemaker calls us to seek relationships with others because His work. And His love puts our inconvenience in a whole new light.
How are you seeking unity in Christ with those who don’t reflect the things you do (or don’t) value?
Rebecca Van Noord
Barry, John D., and Rebecca Kruyswijk. Connect the Testaments: A One-Year Daily Devotional with Bible Reading Plan. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012. Print.
December 28th
Continuous conversion
Except ye be converted and become as little children.… Matthew 18:3.
These words of Our Lord are actual of our initial conversion, but we must be continuously converted throughout our lives to turn to God as children. If we trust our wits instead of God, we produce consequences for which God will hold us responsible. Immediately our bodies are brought into new conditions by the providence of God; we have to see our natural life obeys the dictates of the Spirit of God. Because we have done it once is no proof that we shall do it again. The relation of the natural to the spiritual is continuous conversion, the one thing we object to. In every setting we are put, the Spirit of God remains unchanged and His salvation unaltered, but we have to “put on the new man.” God holds us responsible whenever we refuse to convert ourselves; our reason for refusing is wilful obstinacy. Our natural life must not rule; God must rule in us.
The hindrance in our spiritual life is that we will not be continually converted; there are ‘wadges’ of obstinacy where our pride spits at the throne of God and says—‘I won’t.’ We deify independence and wilfulness and call them by the wrong name. What God looks on as obstinate weakness, we call strength. There are whole tracts of our lives that have not yet been brought into subjection, which can only be done by this continuous conversion. Slowly but surely, we can claim the whole territory for the Spirit of God.
Chambers, Oswald. My Utmost for His Highest: Selections for the Year. Grand Rapids, MI: Oswald Chambers Publications; Marshall Pickering, 1986. Print.
December 28
The friendship of the world is enmity with God
James 4:4
It is like the ivy with the oak. The ivy may give the oak a grand, beautiful appearance, but it is feeding on its vitals. Are we compromising with the enemies of God? Are we being embraced by the world through its honors, pleasures, and applause? This may add to the world’s estimation, but our strength becomes lost.
Denham Smith
Hardman, Samuel G., and Dwight Lyman Moody. Thoughts for the Quiet Hour. Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997. Print.
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